well that definitely is cold! But at least it's constant.
Here in TX we get 81F one day then 32F the next during winter (kind of like between yesterday and today). I'm sick of going from sleeveless shirt to coat!!

Tried to walk the dogs this morning but they kept falling down (and they're only 5 inches off the ground). Almost 12 hours of freezing rain last night...

Also nearly tore the drivers door off my Magnum again. Pulled into the driveway, stopped, got out, car started sliding back down the driveway towards the road. Just got the door closed in time before it hooked the Jeep fender and got hyper-extended.

And this was in Toronto, far away from the wilds of Winnipeg. I'm gonna have to invest in wheel chocks and tiedowns.

Perhaps you should just leave the doors off of the Magnum, needing to explain how you managed to tear off the drivers door a second time would be interesting. Once in the new house you won't have such a steep parking area so that should help.

Here in northern Virginia, we had 9 inches of snow last weekend (a lot for us). It was all GONE within 3 days due to persistent 60 degree weather. Now, just in time for the weekend, it's going to dip again into freezing temps with a chance of more snow. Sheesh.

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"The Universe is the game of the self, which plays hide and seek forever and ever" - Alan Watts

More on the cold... I just went outside to put the goalie equipment in my car and put it in to garage with the block heater and interior car warmer and left Lisa's outside (I have to be up at 8am for hockey on a Saturday morning, ugh!)

I had to get some gasoline this morning. I took off my gloves to slide the CC in that little slot at the pump in a -35 wind chill. EEEUUUWW! That was cold. I put my gloves back on only to discover that there wasn't any warmth to be had in them.

At my parents we had the "two cars, one AC circuit" problem (plug both cars in and the fuse blows) so we used timers to alternate power between the cars. That worked better than you might think, although the timers froze up occasionally and the fuses blew again

Eventually we just punched more wires through the wall and now can plug 3 cars in simultaneously.

Of course that was also about the time everyone moved out; now there is only one car and my parents don't go out when it's cold anyways...

Eventually we just punched more wires through the wall and now can plug 3 cars in simultaneously.

Oh, that's not a problem... there's a dedicated 15amp circuit for each car... well, I share mine with the 500W security light... I just didn't like the idea of the goalie bag being outside (even with a car alarm).

Great course, one of the best courses I have played in So. Calif., if you get the chance I would definitely recommend it, I know you have alot of good courses out that way, but Redhawk was one of the first premier courses out there before the boom.

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A computer once beat me at chess, but it was no match for me at kick boxing.

Leaving your hockey equipment in the vehicle overnight when it's -20 or 25C and your were concerned about it gettin stolen? I'd be at least as concerned about putting those blocks of ice on against your body the next morning. Especially the jock and skates.

I always bring my hockey bag in during the winter just to warm up and dry out the contents. One thing I do like about the cold weather we've finally been getting in Alberta is after my 07:00 games, the sweaty equipment that sits in the truck the rest of the day while I'm at work now freezes and doesn't fester like when it is warm out.

'December 2, 2005. If you’re tired of anaemic, one-lung snowblowers with their slipping drive belts, you might consider Kai Grundt’s V8 snow blower which raises the bar on the traditional snow blower in every respect. With electric start, electric block heater, antifreeze heater and eight cylinders, it has no drive belts to freeze up and you’ll never get bored with the job as the 454 cubic inch big block Chevrolet V8 produces 412 horsepower, 430 foot pounds of torque and can throw snow 50 feet at just 3500 rpm. Nor will you get cold as the machine has been ingeniously designed to route the engine coolant through the handle bars, with the rear mounted, enclosed radiator keeping the operator nice and cosy.

The first point to make is that this is not a V8 grafted on a traditional snow blower carriage but a purpose-built unit crafted around a motor of this magnitude. It functions very much like a traditional blower by way of operator input and feedback and offers effortless safe operation.

Manouevering the massive beastie (it has a total wet weight of 912lbs) is a snack thanks to the hydraulic-drive 4WD skid steer on independent walking beams which offers a zero turning radius. It’s also as fast as you like, with an infinitely adjustable speed range on the drive wheels via dash mounted flow control. At the opposite end of the scale, it has more than enough torque to pull your car out of the ditch before the hydraulic motors stall!

Adding to the well-balanced feel of the unit, just 15 pounds of down force on the handlebars will lift the auger blade off the ground in order to climb stairs/walkways for ease of snow removal. Safety has and continues to be paramount with spring return to centre "fail safe" type directional controls with emergency stop and tether cords.

Safety is one of the key theme, with a flashing blue light (as required by law in many areas) being the least of the safety features. No-one will fail to hear you with those twin throaty exhausts, which come standard with 92 decibels at the controls, though if the rhumba of a V8 exhaust is music to your ears, you can obviously go much louder. Evan at the standard baffling, hearing protection is strongly suggested.

The powerful yard machine lights and a dashboard with backlit gauges complete the package to ease the burden of this normally reviled task

The custom 42 inch, two stage auger has a Chevrolet 10 bolt truck differential with spool and a centrifugal auger clutch with shear pin protection, further adding to the image of this “automotive theme blower.” As each unit is cutom-built, optional extras for the snowblower are both diverse and outrageous as the base unit – there is unlimited auger choices from single to multi stage designs and various motor combinations to suit the religious preferences of the customer (Chevy, Dodge Hemi, Ford) and such exotica as a V-10 or a diesel engine or remote starting can be accommodated.

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Well the Canadian mens team isn't doing that well either (at least at the moment). Yesterday they lost against Switzerland 2-0, which is probably a first. And they're in the first period against the Finns right now and getting outshot badly. The Finns also beat Switzerland the other day. Both our countries mens teams are having a tough go of it.

Leaving your hockey equipment in the vehicle overnight when it's -20 or 25C and your were concerned about it gettin stolen?

Let me point out how I phrased that... THE goalie equipment... Saturday I was returning the equipment to our usual goaltender. It was his shins and groin that were going to be exposed to the cold pads. Besides, since we play outdoor (anyone remember outdoor ice?) warm equipment just delays the inevitable.

In reply to:

I always bring my hockey bag in during the winter just to warm up and dry out the contents.

Oh, it's brought in and dried... that's the great part about having a crawlspace right next to the furnace... the mechanical room smells like gently warmed crotch for a while. But the equipment is always cleaned and dried.

Despite our rain, I have never contemplated having to Defend my children from a Polar Bear while passing a game of street hockey.

Tom, i saw that mentioned last night on the Colbert Report. Tough not to find that at least slightly humourous in a sick sort of way. Those sorts of attacks are restricted to very isolated communities in the far north. I watched a 10minute deal on Halloween in Churchill, Manitoba where townspeople set up a perimeter around town to keep the polar bears from snacking on the trick-o-treaters. Needless to say penguin costumes are not a big seller there.

At the pump stations where I work, you can throw a cup of cold water above your head and it’ll all vaporize before it hits the ground. When it gets cold, you can do the same thing with a cup of piping hot coffee.

Last time I went to Mexico with a couple friends (November), we were the only three people at the water park. Had a blast, no lines. Come to think about it, we were the only ones in the swimming pool too. Don’t know what the big deal was, it was over 60.

Up here in blizzardland, the old ones used to say they didn't mind the weather because it kept the 'riff raff' out, as though the riff raffers could care about a thousand mile block of ice. Funny thing, I don't ever hear that anymore. Maybe the riff raff have arrived and they all have $29k snowthrowers.

You Canadians would love Hawaii right about now.
I lived there for 2 years w/out wearing long pants or a jacket.
My nose peeled every couple days and I still have a scar where my lip split repeatedly, but it was nice and warm.

The overnight temps are cooler out here in Corona, spiff, but it sure was nice at dawn when I let the dog out - about 54* with the air soft and full of tropical moisture. Big improvement over that cold, dry desert air we had before.

We had a golf time about a month ago delayed by frost in the morning. My bro and his friends from OC were incredulous.

I know what you mean, Mark. Almost left my jacket at home this morning when I left for work. Very pleasant outside. Then I remembered the rain storm slated to come through. Glad I brought my jacket. Still, all that cloud cover really helps keep the warmth in.

Thanks for the invite, Mark. With the way I play poker, though, it may be easier for me to mail you a check for $25.00 and save myself the embarrassment! I think I will hold on to my money, but thank you.

Good night for a win. Into the final next weekend. And you guys think I chirp HERE? I'm personally responsible for 6 minutes in dumb penalties taken by the other team. Gotta control your tempers, guys... even when you're down by 2 and there's a tall, Irish biker calling your lineage and sexual orientation into question, and muttering unrepeatable things about your offspring to you. I can take the butt-ends and slashes if it means you watch from the sin bin for 2 mins.

Finally been getting some reasonably cold weather the last week or two. Up till now the ice has been pretty soft and getting really chewed up during our hockey games.

Sunday night we finally had some good hard, fast ice to play on. Even got a couple goals while on defence (pretty infrequent for me). I'm not as hardy as you though, I haven't played more than the odd game on outdoor ice since I was a kid (like 40 years ago).

We are finally getting some snow. They're calling for 4 inches and it started comin down hard just in time for the evening commute home. The tobogganers and cross-county skiers will finally have something to work with.

I've always wanted to try ice boat sailing (I used to windsurf a lot until the kids came along). Back when I used to live in S. Ont. I’d occasionally drive by Hamilton Harbour and Coots Paradise area and see the boats flying across the ice. With a good wind it looks like it’d be a blast

Perfect March-in-Muskoka day here yesterday. It was only -3*C and soooo sunny. My girlfriend and I put on some sunblock and took a picnic down to the boathouse - had to get through snow past our knees to get down there - and put our Muskoka chairs out on the ice, sheltered from the wind, and had a fabulous lunch in the sun. The snowmobile trail runs right past there so friends were stopping in for a little chardonnay as they sledded by . . . now that's what winter should be like! I love March!

Yesterday was a perfect March day in central Alberta as well. Sunny and -8C. Eight of us went out for a couple hours of ice fishing and caught a few lake trout for supper. No chardonney though, just a little scotch and lake ice shards from the auger hole.

Sheesh! If my wife saw this thread, she'd be hounding me to move! We just got dumped on twice with about 6-8" of fluffy snow the end of last week and about another 4" of the heart attack stuff last night. Can't wait to get home and shovel .

It's also snowing here in San Jose, CA. Never in my adult life has it snowed here at ground level. Every other year or so we get snow on the high peaks around town above ~1500ft, but snow on the ground is very unusual around these parts. It's been a weird year for weather that's for sure.

We're FINALLY expecting some snow in the local mountains down here. I think the news was saying snow levels supposed to come down to 1400ft or so. Kinda strange weather down here. Today it's gone from sunny to overcast to windy to rainy and back again. Driving home I went from windy and cold to rainy with low visibility to sunny and dry all in 25 miles! This is going to be an interesting weekend. . .

Tehachapi, right? My bro left Fresno friday afternoon with his family to go dirt bike riding in Mojave, CA. Don't know how much dirt there was to ride on though? He wanted me to go with him to hang out, but I wisely declined. Driving along and pulling a trailer up and down the pass in these conditions is not my idea of fun.

Tehachapi it is, the 58 was actually shut down all last night, just opened this morning, looked like the traffic was backed up from Mojave to Bakersfield. Not a fun pass to go through when the weather is like this.

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A computer once beat me at chess, but it was no match for me at kick boxing.

Six inches of the white stuff that last 36 hrs in Edmonton area (Alberta). The sun came out and the kids and thier friends made the most of it making a snowman and snow fort this afternoon. Their mitts and snowpants are soaked, but they are all smiles.

Ok, so I don't officially live here but two weeks of freezing is enough for me.
The bossman says he needs me to take a little trip north to Alaska. Sounds fun, I hear Anchorage is kind of neat.
Oh, he says I won't be going to Anchorage but to some place that no one has ever heard of. I leave sunny Houston and it's pleasant 89 F, I arrive at the destination it's 12F. I check into the hotel and the clerk tells me it's rather warm. What??? The next morning I am driving to work and I notice the thermometer reads -7F and the wind has surpassed "brisk". Oh by the way, the wife shoots me an email saying she in the kids spent the entire day by the pool and got a little sunburn.
I also notice that when I leave the hotel for dinner, or whatever, I am all bundled up and the locals have a sweatshirt on. :-) How do you guys do it??
I have come to the realization that you "snow people" are tough.
BTW, I have discovered Alaskan micro-brew. . . maybe I need to stay a couple more days. :-)
Cheers to all